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The History of the Hellenized Jew - Part Two
(168 - 160 BC) Antiochus - Death of Judas Maccabee
The Hopeless Situation
- The Party of Hasidim
- As Hellenism was gaining ground the rich upper class Jews were for it and
the common people adhered ever so strictly to Judaism and the commandments. A new
class was forming among the people.
Hasidim, [Heb., = the pious], term used by the rabbis to describe those Jews
who maintained the highest standard of religious observance and moral action.
The first Hasidim, also called the Assideans or Hasideans, were members of a sect
that developed between 300 BC and 175 BC Rigid adherents of Judaism, they led
the resistance to the Hellenizing campaign of Antiochus IV of Syria and were important in the revolt of the Maccabees.
- The Martyrs
- With Antiochus' edict to abolish Judaism there were only two options for the
Hasidim: to die fighting or to die as martyrs (they could not fight but they
could die for their ideals).
- There was no army and the leaders were the Scribes whose interests were far
from political.
- The little book "Pirke Abot" (chapters of the fathers) reveals what the
Scribes were concerned with:
a. to be very moderate in passing judgment
b. to raise a generation of educated men
c. to protect the law of the Torah
- Judaism was declared illegal and thousands were put to death
- Men, women, and children were loyal to Judaism and died as martyrs
- The stories were told of Hannah who encouraged her 7 sons to die rather than
abandon Judaism and Eliezer the old man who chose death as an example to the
younger fellow Jews
- Thousands of Jews abandoned their homes (when the Greek army was
approaching) and fled to the hills
- What was most disastrous were the Jews who had defected to the Hellenizers.
Knowing who were the Hasidim they did not hesitate to betray them over to the
Syrians. They did this openly and publicly
- The Sabbath Attacks
- Many peasant Jews put up a strong fight against the Syrian soldiers
- The Syrians did most of their attacking on Saturdays (Sabbath Holy Days)
- The end of the Jewish people was soon approaching
The New Heroes
- Mattathias and His Sons
- Northwest of Jerusalem was the little town of Modin. Among the most devoted Jews were the
"Hashmonaim" or Hasmoneans (prob. a descendant of Hashmon) who were descended from the
priests
- The aged Mattathias had five sons: Simon, Eliezer, Judah, Johanan, and Jonathan
- They knew that the Syrians would be arriving in their town soon too
- Mattathias
- The dreaded moment finally arrived. The Syrian soldiers came to the most
public meeting place for religious observance and erected an altar while the men
of Modin were gathered there.
- The soldiers brought out a pig and Mattathias was ordered to sacrifice it to
Zeus in honor of Antiochus
- Mattathias did not move and at that moment a young Jew stepped forward
(Hellenized Jew) and asked permission to perform the sacrifice.
- It is obvious what must happen next. The sacrificial meat must be eaten and
those who refused would be executed.
- At that moment the aged Mattathias, who was standing near the captain of the
troops, snatched the sword out of the captains hand and thrust it through the
body of the traitor. As the captain moved to stop him Mattathias stabbed him
too. The sons of Mattathias suddenly rushed the soldiers and killed them all with
the help of some other Jews and completely demolished the altar.
- Beginnings of Real Opposition
- The famous cry of Mattathias was "whoever is for God, let him come unto me"
- The call echoed over the entire land, across the hills and in the caves and
wherever the Hasidim were hiding and the Jews of Modin left for the wilderness
knowing that the soldiers' deaths would be avenged
- Peasants from all around joined the Hasmonean band.
- They began to attack small troops of Syrian soldiers
- One added trait was that they decided to defend themselves on the Sabbath
(the rest of the Jews welcomed this change in policy)
- This was the only hope for the preservation of the Jewish people
- Judah the Maccabee "The Hammer of God"
- About 167 BC old Mattathias died (in the hills) just a year after the revolt
- The leadership moved to Judah who had distinguished himself above all others
in the band
- For some reason he had acquired the surname "Maccabee" The reason is under
speculation:
a. The first letters of the phrase that was inscribed upon his banner, "who
is like unto Thee among the mighty, O Lord?"
b. Derived from "Makkabet" the Hebrew word for hammer Judah was the hammer
God used to smite the Syrians
- Judah became one of the greatest military leaders of all time. He was as
inspiring a general as David
- He united the Jews and fought for the independence of Israel
- The saying, "the praise of God was in their throat, and a double-edged sword
was in their hand"
The Miraculous Victory
- The First Test of Strength
- The Syrians brought in one force after another and tried to corner the
Jewish army
- The Jews would fast and pray before battle
- They would fight with bravery as no other for the righteous cause. Victory
after victory.
- Their army grew in number and arms. Many who wouldn't fight now joined them
- The battle of Emmaus
- Antiochus realized that he had a full scale rebellion and it must be
suppressed (bordered Egypt)
- At that time the Parthians in the northeast were seeking independence from
the Seleucid empire
- Antiochus empowered his able general Lysias to stop the Judean revolt and
guard his capital city
- Lysias also underestimated the strength of the Maccabean forces and instead
of going himself he sent two commanders Nicanor and Gorgias.
- The neighboring peoples were so sure of the Syrian victory that merchants
came with large sums of money to buy Jewish prisoners as slaves.
- In the dead of night Judah came (knowing the terrain) and annihilated the
Syrian forces.
- Enormous stores of booty fell into the hands of the Maccabean soldiers.
- The greatest result of the victory at Emmaus was that the road to Jerusalem
was now open
- The First Hanukkah
- Singing hallelujah the Maccabean army came to Jerusalem which was in enemy
hands for 3 years
- The high priest Menelaus fled, as did the Hellenized Jews and all the pagan residents just as
almost 3 years earlier the Jews fled for the hills.
- The Temple was cleansed and the worship was re-established
- They removed every sign of paganism and destroyed the altar that was defiled
by pagan sacrifices. They also ground the statue of Antiochus/Zeus into dust
and erected a new altar
- On the 25th of Kislev (165 BC) they rededicated the Temple and celebrated
the dedication feast called Hanukkah (from "hannak" which means "to dedicate")
for eight days
- The Miracle of Hanukkah
- According to the Talmud the priests had only enough oil to light the Temple
Menorah for one day but it burned miraculously for eight days (until the
priests could prepare more unpaganized oil)
- The 2nd Book of the Maccabees (which was written considerably later than the
event) emphasized the battles and the victory of Judaism
- Hanukkah is still an important holiday for the Jews today
The Peace that was never Peace
- The Hostility of the Pagans
- All of Jerusalem's neighbors gladly helped the Syrians fight the Jews
whenever they had the chance.
- Jews were being heavily persecuted everywhere. In Jaffa 200 Jews were
drowned (danger everywhere)
- Judah sent expeditions against any threats and then news came of the
approaching Syrian army
- The Siege of Jerusalem
- Lysias (Antiochus' general) was leading a larger army than the Jews had ever
met
- Judah gathered his entire force to meet the Syrians not far from Jerusalem
- The Maccabeans fought heroically. Judah's brother Eliezer hacked his way
through to the elephant that was supposedly carrying King Antiochus' son and he
stabbed the elephant but then lost his life
- It was a hopeless struggle against overwhelming odds
- The Jews retreated to the walls of Jerusalem for safety
- Lysias besieged the city (hoping to starve the Maccabeans into submission)
- Lysias' Offer of Peace
- While Lysias was besieging Jerusalem, news had reached him that a large army
was coming against Antioch, the capital of Syria. Anxious to go to defend it
he offered the Jews a treaty of peace
a. Withdraw the laws against the observance of Judaism
b. Syria would not interfere with the conflicts between the Hellenizing Jews
and the Hasidim
c. Menelaus would be removed from the office of high priest and executed
d. Judah and his other leaders would not be punished for rebelling
e. But the walls of Jerusalem would be leveled to the ground
f. Syria was to remain the sovereign power in Judea (and appointed mild Hellenistic high priests)
- Judah Refuses
- The new council in Jerusalem called a meeting over the peace offer (high officers, scribes, & elders)
- The people wanted it but Judah and the others did not trust Syria or the
aristocratic Jews who would be coming back into power that began the whole conflict
- Judah insisted that the simple (farmers and peasants) retain political power
- Judah lost the debate and the council decided to accept the terms of peace
- Judah and a few of his followers left the city
- The Disillusioned Hasidim
- It didn't take a lot of time for them to discover that Judah had been right
- Immediately, with the new high priest Alcimus in power, the Maccabean
soldiers disarmed, the wall leveled, and Judah gone, the true intents came to pass.
The new leaders were forced to step down and the old leaders came back into
power.
- Alcimus had many of the Hassidic leaders seized and executed
- The people sought out Judah again and a great civil war began again
- The Death of Judah
- Alcimus felt the tension and appealed to Syria, and Syria sent an army
- Judah led his army again into victory on the 13th of Adar (established as a
half holiday)
- But this was Judah's last military victory
- The Hasidim had somewhat compromised in political power as long as religious
freedom was granted
- Judah's followers were not as numerous again and he couldn't possibly stand
against the Syrian force
- Judah went out to meet the army of Syria with only eight hundred men. Judah
died in battle
Results of their Courage
- A Fighting Remnant
- The death of Judah ended the first phase of the Maccabean Revolt
- Judah's brothers: Simon, Jonathan, and Johanan, with a small army had fled
across the Jordan. The Syrians and the Jewish officials considered them outlaws.
- Jonathan had succeeded Judah and was a constant threat to the Jewish leaders
- A Memorial
- The Maccabees go down in history as those that heroically went against the
odds and also the early Hasidim who died as martyrs were the first martyrs in
history to die for religious freedom.
- The common people were awakened to the fact that they were the stronger
group and had a share in political power (a feeling for democracy)
- Religious Ideas
- Loyalty to the faith was strengthened (More of a separation between Jew and
Greek thought)
- Contributions to Jewish Literature
- The Jews were trained by their scribes to be a book reading people
- Many songs and poems were written and some were added to the Psalms
- The First Book of Maccabees was written supposedly by an eye witness (about
140 BC) about the historical period
- There was also the "apocalyptic" books which were about visions of the
latter days. They dealt with future judgments. Many try to force Daniel in with
these books but unsuccessfully because of recent discoveries.
- The main noncanonical books are the writings ascribed to Enoch and Baruch,
The Testament of the 12 Patriarchs, and IV Ezra. The authors did not put their
names to the books (therefore they were termed Pseudepigraphical).
a. Spurious writings, especially writings falsely attributed to biblical
characters or times.
b. A body of texts written between 200 BC and AD 200 and spuriously ascribed
to various prophets and kings of Hebrew Scriptures.
[Greek, from neuter pl. of pseudepigraphos, falsely ascribed : pseud?s, false.
See below epigraphein, to inscribe (epi-, epi- + graphein, to write)]
- We cannot charge these writers with fraud but we also cannot accept the
names assigned to their works
- The Jews had already believed the canon of Scripture closed until Messiah would come but there were thinkers who had helped to shape the truths already
taught in Torah.
Section Below taken from the Encyclopedia:
Maccabees, books of
The books of the Maccabees consist of four Jewish books named after Judas
Maccabeus, the hero of the first two. The books do not appear in the Jewish BIBLE,
but 1 and 2 Maccabees are included in the Greek and Latin canon and in the Protestant APOCRYPHA. Books 1 and 2 provide a vivid account
of Jewish resistance to the religious suppression and Hellenistic cultural
penetration of the SELEUCID period (175-135 BC). They also contain partial records
of the Hasmonean (or Maccabean) dynasty, which achieved Jewish political
independence during the resistance to the Seleucids and maintained it until 63 BC.
Written about 110 BC, 1 Maccabees has more historical scope and detail than the
others and displays Hasmonean sympathies. Dated prior to 63 BC, 2 Maccabees
epitomizes an earlier work by Jason of Cyrene and has modest historical value. A historically dubious but edifying account
of the persecution of Egyptian Jews by PTOLEMY IV (r. 221-204 BC) constitutes 3
Maccabees, which was written about 50 BC. The last book, 4 Maccabees,
originally written in Greek probably about AD 25, is primarily a philosophical
discussion of the primacy of reason, governed by religious laws, over passion.
pseudepigrapha
The word pseudepigrapha, meaning "books with false titles," refers to books
similar in type to those of the Bible whose authors gave them the names of
persons of a much earlier period in order to enhance their authority. Among the best
known are 3 and 4 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasses, which are included in the
APOCRYPHA.
The term is applied to many Jewish and Jewish-Christian books written in the
period 200 BC-AD 200. The Jewish books include Jubilees, Enoch, Psalms of Solomon, Assumption (or Testament) of Moses, Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, the
Sibylline Oracles, and the Apocalypse of Baruch. Fragments of the Damascus
Document have been found among the DEAD SEA SCROLLS.
Other pseudepigrapha exist in Greek, Slavonic, and other languages, many of
them revisions of Jewish books. These include the Apocalypse of Peter, the
Shepherd of HERMAS, and the Ascension of Isaiah. The Gospel of Thomas and the
Protoevangelium of James contain many legends about Jesus and Mary and show the
influence of GNOSTICISM, as does the Apocalypse of Adam. The Gospel of Nicodemus is
composed of the Acts of Pilate and the Harrowing of Hell.
The pseudepigrapha are important for the light they throw on Judaism and early
Christianity. The Epistle of Jude, for example, reflects a knowledge of Enoch
and the Assumption of Moses.
Apocrypha
The Apocrypha are books of the Old Testament included in Roman Catholic and
Orthodox Bibles as deuterocanonical (added to the earlier canon), but excluded
from the Hebrew Bible and from most Protestant Bibles. It is not certain why the
term apocrypha (hidden things) was originally applied to them, but they were
considered less authoritative than the other biblical books because of their
relatively late origin (c. 300 BC-AD 100). Except for 2 Esdras, which was in
Latin, they were part of the SEPTUAGINT. The other books placed after the Old
Testament in the Revised Standard Version are the following: 1 and 2 Esdras,
TOBIT, JUDITH, Additions to the Book of ESTHER, WISDOM, SIRACH, BARUCH and the
Letter of Jeremiah, Additions to DANIEL, the Prayer of Manasseh, and 1 and 2 MACCABEES. Roman
Catholic Bibles also list 1 and 2 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh as
apocryphal. The Greek Orthodox Bible omits 2 Esdras but adds 3 Maccabees and Psalm 151,
with 4 Maccabees as an appendix. The Apocrypha are important sources for
Jewish history and religious developments in the 1st and 2d centuries BC.